Abacus Daily Debt News

Bankruptcy in young women ‘higher’

Debt among the under-24 age range is increasingly accounted for by women, new research has shown.

Accountancy firm Wilkins Kennedy announced that females currently make up 55 per cent of those in debt in this age bracket. This represents a 6.7 percentage points rise on five years ago.

Director at the company Anthony Cork remarked this could be due to women being under increasing pressure to prove their independence.

He said: "Young men don’t seem to feel the social pressure to either spend conspicuously or to set up on their own to the extent that women do."

This has led to a number of ladies taking out mortgages that they cannot afford with their salaries, he added.

Mr Cork also suggested another contributing factor could be the influence of celebrities such as Victoria Beckham and Paris Hilton whose prolific spending habits may be emulated by younger women.

This follows recent news that young people might be encouraged to rent instead of buy properties due to debts incurred as a student.

By Francis Finch